The Madras High Court orders Tamil Film Producers’ Council offices to be opened.
Vishal, the president of TFPC, had filed a petition in Madras HC against the forceful sealing of the offices. The Court has now ordered divisional officers and registrar to remove the seals. The court has also asked the police why elected members of the council were not allowed inside their office.
#Breaking : தயாரிப்பாளர் சங்க அலுவலகத்திற்கு வைக்கப்பட்ட சீலை அகற்றுங்கள் – உயர்நீதிமன்றம்
* நடிகர் விஷால் தொடர்ந்த வழக்கில் உயர்நீதிமன்றம் அதிரடி
* தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட சங்க நிர்வாகிகளை போலீஸ் தடுத்து நிறுத்தியது ஏன்?#Vishal | #Producercouncil | #HighCourt pic.twitter.com/VhpqfSTBqn— Thanthi TV (@ThanthiTV) December 21, 2018
On Wednesday, a group of 300 producers asked actor-producer Vishal to resign as TFPC president. They locked TFPC’s T Nagar office, and reportedly handed over keys to the police. The producers claimed that Vishal had been involved in irregularities.
Next morning at around 11 am, Vishal allegedly tried to break the lock and enter TFPC office by force. When the police stopped him, he got into an argument with them and was arrested. He was later released.
Vishal responded to this, he said that the police action against him constituted ‘criminal trespassing’. According to The News Minute he told the media, “I have not done any mistake. They are not allowing me to go inside my office. If we ask questions they are arresting us. This is unbelievable.”
Scroll reported the that dissenting producers asked why no executive committee meeting was called by Vishal after producer Gnanavel Raja’s resignation as the council secretary earlier this month. Why was producer Kathiresan simply appointed to the post, they asked.
They alleged that both TFPC vice president actor Prakash Raj, and director Gautham Vasudev Menon never attend the council’s meetings. They also said Vishal organised events without getting approval from the body’s general committee.
This morning, a case was registered against Vishal by one of the dissenting producers Radhakrishnan at the Thousand Lights police station. As a counter to this, SS Durairaj, general secretary of TFPC, filed a complaint against Radhakrishnan on Vishal’s behalf.
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TFPC member Radhakrishnan reportedly filed the case under IPC Section 145, which is meant for land and water-related disputes that cause a breach of peace. In the complaint Radhakrishnan alleged that Vishal tried to enter TFPC office yesterday to clear his documents and records.
An RDO enquiry into was recommended for Friday.
Commenting on the issue, Minster of Fisheries and Minster of Finance, D Jayakumar said, “If the people in film industry are united, there is no need for the government to interfere in their issue. The action was taken against them only to avoid the law and order problem in the city, and nothing other than that.”